KRC’s Legislative & Policy Watch – No. 6, February 21, 2014

The 2014 Kansas Legislative session is approaching the midway point. By the end of next week, the first half of the session will be over and the number of bills to be considered will narrow.

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of the coming week, committees will take final action on several bills and move them to full debate on the House and Senate floor. Extended floor debates will start on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before the Legislature recesses for a spring break until the following Tuesday or Wednesday.

Key decisions will be made in committees as to which bills have reached consensus and which bills deserve a full debate on the floor. Most committees have deadlines that a bill must move to the other body by the end of next week. Some committees are exempt from deadlines such as House Appropriations and Senate Ways & Means. Any leadership priority bill can be moved to an exempt committee to keep the bill alive for the session.

Several issues are sparking debate and controversy. One issue is whether the mortgage registration fee will be eliminated thus costing counties over $47 million in income. A second issue is moving local elections from the spring to the fall. What is not settled is whether all elections will be made partisan? will the local elections be in odd-numbered years or bundled into even-numbered years with statewide races? will the selection of school board members be limited in terms of district and at-large voting?

A third issue is whether to change existing liquor laws to allow supermarkets and convenience stores to sell wine, liquor and strong beer? A fourth issue is over classifying business property as real property that is subject to property taxes by counties or as personal property that would be exempt from property taxes.

A fifth issue will be over allowing ‘political party authorized’ committees to solicit funds from any group during the legislative session. A sixth issue is the Governor’s proposal to fund all-day kindergarten with additional state dollars. A seventh issue is whether classified state employees will receive a 1.5% salary increase. The debate over abortion and ‘open carry’ gun laws will consume time as well.

The regular session will end on April 4 with the veto session scheduled to start on April 30th. In March, committees will consider and debate legislation that has been sent over from the other chamber. Amendments will be made to many of these bills so the differences between the House and Senate version will be sent to a conference committee to find an acceptable version for both chambers. Unfortunately, some conference committees take popular ‘will pass’ bills and attach other related bills that are not as popular. It is almost impossible for the public to follow such a non-transparent, ‘inside game’ process.

Action Alert: Net Metering Bills Need Calls to Legislators

The House Energy and Environment Committee untabled HB 2458 and passed an amended version on Thursday. The Kansas Senate Utilities Committee will work the Senate version SB 280 next Tuesday.HB 2458 establishes that residential and commercial customers with solar panels or wind systems, will get full retail credit for any power generated for their own needs. If they produce more power than they use, they will be paid a 150% rate based on avoided fuel costs of the utility. This will be computed monthly with no annual true-up of the extra power.The Kansas Corporation Commission will not develop a special tariff for these renewable power customers. (Important to note that the 200 existing net metered customers would be grandfathered in so this bill applies to new renewable customers.) The Senate bill may be more restrictive by not allowing any payment for excess generation and putting a cap on the size of the solar system.Utility companies have been lobbying for a reduction to what they pay net metered customers, which acts as a disincentive to adopt renewable sources.Contact legislators serving on the House Energy and Environment and Senate Utilities committees and tell them you want them to make sure that homeowners are fairly compensated for the solar energy that they produce. ForHouse Energy & Environment Committee members click here. For Senate Utilities Committee members click here.

Local Food and Farm Task Force- SB 380- Committee Hearing

The Senate Agriculture Committee heard testimony last Wednesday on SB 380- establishing a local food and farm task force.Eileen Horn – Sustainability Coordinator for Lawrence/Douglas County – staffs the Douglas County Food Policy Council that mirrors what SB 380 will do statewide. This Food Policy Council is composed of a diversity of voices and perspectives including experts from agriculture, health, social services, universities, small businesses and agricultural producers. Eileen has also been working closely with Sedgwick, Riley, Reno and Crawford counties – all looking to establish local food policy councils in 2014. KRC’s Executive Director Julie Mettenburg testified, “In other states, such as Iowa, North Carolina and Oregon, statewide farm to fork task forces… found that farms were critical to these food access solutions. To further understand the challenges that stand between our farmers and local customers, we (KRC) have partnered with the Kansas Health Foundation on a three-year initiative to help communities work with their local farms to solve these food access challenges….we will continue to advance our understanding of the challenges standing in the way of our farms’ ability to provide food directly to our people, and we look forward to participating in this important Task Force to advance some of these solutions”. The hope is that SB 380 will pass out of the Senate Agriculture committee early next week and pass the full Senate by the end of the week. Responses overall were positive.See; Kansas Health Institute article : Kansas Senators Consider Local Foods Task Force http://www.khi.org/news/2014/feb/19/kansas-senators-consider-local-foods-task-force/See KRC Testimony by clicking here.

Water Watch

In debating the Kansas Water Office (KWO) budget, there was a spirited discussion in House Appropriations Committee over the dredging of John Redmond Reservoir. Given that the Governor is developing a 50 year water vision that will be completed by November, is the timing of this project appropriate at this point? The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Budget committee – that worked the KWO budget – pared back the dredging project from a $25 million 15-Year project to a $20 million 15-Year project by spending $3.5 million less on landowner compensation for disposal sites and $1.5 million less on Neosho/Cottonwood river bank stabilization. Bond interest and fees will also decline $1.3 million with this $20 million bond issuance. Senate Bill 412 has been filed to move the issuance of water project bonds from the Kansas Water Office to the Kansas Development Finance Authority (KDFA) with approval by the State Finance Council. As far as I know, the bill to give Kansas certain water appropriation rights over water in the Missouri river has not been filed yet.

House Taxation on Monday Feb. 24 at 3:30 p.m. in Room 582-N: HB 2643 Classification of commercial and industrial machinery and equipment as personal property.Go to the Kansas Legislature website: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/measures/bills/and hit the (>I) and it will take you to latest bills filed. You can scroll up by number and title.)

Federal Farm Bill Recap and Wrap-Up

2014 Farm Bill Drill Down: Recap and Wrap Up (Reprinted from NSAC February 14th, 2014)The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) published a series of short articles on what is new in the 2014 Farm Bill for sustainable food and farming systems. This post wraps up our series on what is in the new 2014 Farm Bill for sustainable food and farming systems. NSAC started the series with an overview of what was in the bill for sustainable agriculture, and then dove into a series of posts with the nitty-gritty details of the new bill. See the links below to the series of articles.The Bill By the NumbersBeginning and Socially Disadvantaged FarmersConservation: Working Lands, Crop InsuranceLocal and Regional Food Systems, Healthy Food Access & Rural DevelopmentSustainable & Organic ResearchSubsidy Reform and Farm Credit.While the bill is a mixed bag for sustainable agriculture, the strong progress made on a variety of fronts in the bill is the result of congressional champions and the tireless efforts of farmers and grassroots advocates who made their voices heard through countless calls to Congress, meetings and farm tours with legislators, and outreach to their communities on how to weigh in on our nation’s food and farm policy. To all of you who made a call, shared a tweet, educated your representatives on your farm or food business, and took the time to reach out to members of your community, a big thank you!Let’s Recap How We Got Here
It has been a long and unpredictable path to this new bill. The House Agriculture Committee kicked off field hearings in 2010. In 2011, the leaders of the Agriculture Committees drafted a farm bill deal for the Super Committee process that failed. Agriculture Committee leaders pushed forth in 2012 to draft a bill, with the Senate passing a bill and the House only getting a bill out of committee. But the bill never made it to the House floor in 2012, and so the farm bill expired and, along with it, funding for many innovative programs.Right at the start of 2013, Congress passed an awful farm bill extension as part of the bigger “fiscal cliff” deal. Agriculture Committee leaders then started the process of reauthorizing a new bill again, and the Senate passed the bill again, as did the House Agriculture Committee. When the bill came to the House floor, it failed, and after some fits and starts, was divided into two bills, and then rejoined. In the meantime, the farm bill extension expired and innovative programs continued to be stranded without funding.The farm bill conference negotiations began and then stalled in early 2014. But Agriculture Committee leaders persisted, and a deal was finally delivered and then signed into law.
A big thank you to everyone who stayed with us through the incredible twists and turns of the multi-year process and took action to support sustainable food and farming systems!What’s Next?With the ink drying on the new bill, focus now turns to implementing the programs and policies in the bill. This year and next, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will be writing the guidance and rules that provide details on programs. USDA will be putting out funding announcements and notices, seeking comment on the structure of new programs, and doing outreach to farmers, communities, and consumers on programs and resources that are available.

Engaging in the implementation process of the new bill is critical for the programs and policies to be successful on-the-ground. In the coming months, NSAC will be providing resources and information about programs in the new bill as well as opportunities to engage in how USDA is rolling out programs and policies. Stay tuned, sign up to stay informed, and get ready to make sure that all of the good things in the farm bill turn into real change across the country!

Upcoming Events– Wind Works for Kansas February 25

Wind Works for Kansas Day will be held at the Capitol in Topeka on Tuesday, February 25th. Supporters will meet in the first floor rotunda at 10:30 am for remarks about Kansas Wind and the Faces of Wind Exhibit will be on hand for all to see (http://www.windworksforkansas.com/).At noon, volunteers are invited to join legislators for lunch as they hear about how important the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) are to all of us. Throughout the day, the Climate and Energy Project will be delivering the more than 2000 WWFK postcards they have collected from all over Kansas. For more information contact Climate and Energy, Dorothy Barnett at barnett@climateandenergy.org or 785-424-0444.
Please RSVP for the Wind Works for KS Day at http://tinyurl.com/WWFKS

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